You can’t talk about drawing tablets and leave Wacom out of it. Wacom, a mega boss in the digital art industry, has been in the business of making high-quality drawing tablets for digital creators for over 30 years!
Wacom makes various types of tablets but two of Wacom’s most popular tablet product lines are the Intuos and the Cintiq.
The Cintiq tablets are equipped with displays/screens that allow you to see what you draw on the tablet itself whereas Intuos tablets are the usual pen tablets without displays/screens. Some people love the Cintiq while others would rather use the Intuos.
If you are somewhere in the middle asking yourself: “Should I get an Intuos or Cintiq?”
Then have no worries! Below, I have covered each of them and you can check out their pros and cons and see which drawing tablet is the best fit for you
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Wacom Intuos Pro
Wacom has the Intuos and the Intuos Pro series. They’re standard pen display tablets that get connected to your computer with a USB cord or via Bluetooth.
The Intuos is essentially for beginners or hobbyists whereas the Intuos Pro is more professional. The Intuos Pro has more features than the Intuos since it comes with a multi-touch option, Wacom’s amazing stylus, the Pro Pen 2 and it’s a bit bigger. Both the non-pro and the pro comes in 3 different sizes.
You can check out the Wacom Intuos pro on Amazon by clicking here.
Now let’s take a look at the yays and nays of the Intuos Pro.
Pros:
- The Intuos Pro is comparatively much cheaper than the Cintiq. The medium size costs about half of the cheapest Cintiq model.
- The Intuos Pro comes with 8 customizable buttons on the side which makes work easier. If you are so used to keyboard shortcuts, this could be an ultimate game-changer for you.
- The Intuos Pro helps you maintain good posture. The tablet is placed flat on the desk enabling you to work sitting up straight, eyes horizontal to the computer and with no hunched back.
- The Intuos Pro is durable. Most pen display tablets outlast the screen display tablets. So if you’re looking for something to last years, the Intuos (Pro) is for you
- Your hand doesn’t interfere when drawing. If you’ve ever used a Cintiq, you’ll find it annoying when your hand is in the way but with an Intuos (Pro), no problem.
- The Intuos (Pro) is portable. You can carry it anywhere or while traveling. It’s light in weight, needs only a single USB cord, and can fit any hand-carrying luggage.
Cons:
- It has an annoying learning curve. You have to get used to drawing without looking at your hand. This may take a while but it can be really frustrating.
- The Intuos (except the Intuos Pro) doesn’t come with the Pro Pen 2 but a styles with less features.
Wacom Cintiq
The Cintiq is fancied by the drawing artist because of its near-real drawing experience. It’s almost like the actual thing and this reason keeps the Cintiq in the game.
The Cintiq also has Pro versions which come with HD resolution and you can choose between displays of 16″ up to a huge 32″.
All Cintiqs are accompanied by the 8K pressure level pen known as the ProPen 2.
You can check out the Cintiq on Amazon by clicking here.
Now let’s go over the pros and cons.
Pros:
- Unlike the Intuos (excluding the Intuos Pro), the Cintiq comes with multi-touch options. That way, you can always zoom in and out with your finger while drawing
- When using a Cintiq, it feels much more natural to draw. If you’re a traditional artist, you can easily make the switch to digital art with a Cintiq.
- With a Cintiq, you can make accurate strokes and excellent detailing in your drawings since you see what you’re doing.
- The Cintiq comes with the Pro Pen 2 which is one of the best digital pens out there. The pen has a nice grip and feel, it comes with an 8K pressure sensitivity level, tilt, and customizable buttons.
Cons:
- The Cintiq is a big investment. The price increases according to the size of the display ranging up to 1000’s dollars. It is not a good option if you are on a budget.
- The Cintiq is heavy and not quite portable. It’s usually a stay-at-home or stay-at-work tablet. You can’t carry it around and take it traveling.
- The Cintiq requires many accessories. It comes with a lot of cables and externals (HDMI, USB, and power cable) and other additions like the Wacom Color Manager, a stand, and the Express Key Remote which you also have to pay for.
- It has no customizable buttons. You’d have to buy the Express Key remote to have some buttons and shortcuts.
- Since the Cintiq is equipped with a display/screen, it is fragile and can break. This makes it less durable than the Intuos pen displays.
Are you Team Cintiq or Team Intuos?
I have put together some recommendations below that can help you narrow down a tablet choice.
So the Intuos Pro is great for
- People that travel a lot and need to work on the go
- Total beginners
- Graphics designers
- Photo editors
- Digital art hobbyists
- People on a budget
The Cintiq is great for
- Those transitioning from traditional art to digital art
- Professional artists
- Line art artist
- Those into drawing and painting
- People who can afford a Cintiq
Conclusion
In the end, choosing between an Intuos (Pro) and a Cintiq all depends on your personal preference, your budget, and the type of work you do.
Both tablets are effective in their own way. Personally, I prefer the Intuos Pro mainly because it’s portable. I move around a lot and I have no intention of carrying a Cintiq up and down. If I needed a drawing tablet with a display, I would go with an iPad due to its portability.
With that being said, have fun making digital art.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. At no cost to you, I may receive a commission if you buy through a link on this page. Read more here.
